


The Language of Learning the Wrong Language

by renjunsrey



Series: Deaf Au's [4]
Category: Monsta X (Band), NCT (Band)
Genre: Airport Reunion, American Sign Language, Deaf Character, Deaf Doyoung, Deaf Jaemin, Deaf Mark Lee, Doyoung is profoundly Deaf, Family Reunion, Fluff, Hyunwoo treats Mark like a little brother, I learnt KSL for this, Jaemin and Mark can both use hearing aids to hear, Korean Sign Language, M/M, Mark and Minhyuk are brothers, Mark is going Deaf, Mark lives overseas, Mark loses his hearing over the course of this fic, Minhyuk is actually very good at learning sign language, Minhyuk is just a little bit of a dumbass, Minhyuk learns the wrong sign language, Miscommunication in sign languages, Monsta X are very protective of Mark, Sign Language, Sign Language Classes, Taeyong and Donghyuck are brothers, Taeyong is a Sign Language teacher, The lee family is split between Korea and Canada, There is absolutely no angst, brother versus lover, don't worry they reunite!, donghyuck and minhyuk are dumbasses, i wanted it to be soft, literally all the evidence is there and its obvious, soft family moments, thats okay tho bc Hyunwoo loves him to bits, theres a lot of family love, this takes place over the span of a year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 17:59:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19278514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjunsrey/pseuds/renjunsrey
Summary: Minhyuk's little brother Mark lives overseas in Canada with their Mum, Minhyuk lives at home in Korea with their father, when Minhyuk gets a call from Mark telling him that he's rapidly losing his hearing, Minhyuk puts all his efforts into learning sign language for his little brother. His sign language tutor Lee Taeyong is very happy to see the new faces that Minhyuk brings to his classes, but little does Minhyuk know he's been learning KSL. Not ASL, which Mark is learning, and Taeyong just happens to be the older brother of Donghyuck, Mark's boyfriend.Minhyuk becomes fluent, makes some friends, and then while he's at the airport, betting with Donghyuck on whether Minhyuk's brother, or Donghyuck's boyfriend will show up first, some realisations are made. Minhyuk and Donghyuck are fools, and Mark loves them both.





	The Language of Learning the Wrong Language

**Author's Note:**

> Sign language is written in Italics  
> Please note that experiences are based on my experiences as Hard of Hearing, my Deaf Culture classes, and the jokes that my Deaf friends like to make with me when my well meaning friends learn the wrong sign languages in an effort to make everything easier for me. (Love you guys, but its absolutely hilarious, every single time)
> 
> For context, before the fic:  
> Doyoung is profoundly Deaf, he can lipread (what a champ, that shit is HARD), and he primarily signs, but went through years of speech therapy when he still had most of his hearing, so he can talk just fine. Don't do the "he doesn't sound Deaf" thing, Deaf people pronounce things just fine  
> Jaemin is partially Deaf, he can hear with a hearing aid, but he prefers just to sign, so his friends Jeno and Renjun came to learn with him.  
> Mark is partially Deaf at the end of the fic, but once the doctor's two year time span is up he will probably be profoundly Deaf, his hearing aid also has to be retuned quite often.
> 
> KSL is the Korean Sign Language, and is not even CLOSE to ASL (American Sign Language) so its pretty reasonable to be incredibly confused, they're as different as Korean and English.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this! If you come across anything that's inconsistent or inaccurate, please let me know, and I will edit the fic to fix the issues!

 

Minhyuk lays starfished on his bed, at his family home, scrolling through his phone absently, when his phone starts to buzz with a call from his little brother Mark. He answers it straight away, going to video call, where he can see the younger’s fluffy black curls, and wide smile, at seeing his older brother for the first time in over a week.

 

“Hi Minhyuk-hyung!” Mark yells when he sees Minhyuk smiling at him through the phone, and Minhyuk welcomes the call of his little brother welcoming the silence, Minhyuk can see the earphones in Mark’s ears, obviously not wanting to disturb whoever else was at home

 

“Hi Markie~ How’s the weather in Canada?” Minhyuk coos at his little brother, throwing up a peace sign as he squints a smile to the camera, rolling over on his bed, so that he wasn’t attempting to stop his phone from falling on his face while they were calling.

 

“Oh it’s a little cold, but Mum says it’ll warm up a little next week, so I can wear those shorts you got me” Mark smiles, his eyebrows raising up just a little

 

“Hell yeah, get mum to send me a photo of them when you’re wearing them” Minhyuk mutters, as Mark nods, laughing and tells him that he’ll make sure to remember to do that, after Minhyuk threatens to get onto a plane to beat his ass if he doesn’t send him a photo.

 

The two brothers fall into their usual banter, talking shit about their friends, Minhyuk muttering about how his boyfriend was being a cute dumbass because he was worried that a book wasn’t a good enough gift for their youngest friend, despite the fact he absolutely loved it. Mark laughs about the dumb boyfriend, and then remarks about his own boyfriend starting to learn sign language for Mark.

Minhyuk doesn’t really question why Mark would mention Donghyuk learning sign language for Mark for a bit, probably a small bit of miscommunication on his part somewhere, when he was on a call late at night and missed half the information that Mark dumped on him. He doesn’t think of it again, until Mark stops talking, mid-sentence, and spaces out for a second, staring past the camera, before snapping his eyes back to his phone with a little shake of his head.

 

“Did you say something Min?” Mark questions, squinting at the screen, staring at his older brother’s face, when Minhyuk shakes his head, with a little confused look, Mark looks a little confused himself, until he looks like he remembered something he desperately had to tell his brother.

“Hey I forgot to tell you, Mum took me to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling that great the other week,” Minhyuk hums, as his brother tells him what he’s missed out on, “they did a hearing test, and they said that I’m losing my hearing, and I might not be able to hear that well for much longer, he said maybe 2 years at most”

 

Minhyuk stills a little at that, his small smile dropping, to look at his younger brother on his phone screen. His little brother is losing his hearing and he’s not there for him, and Minhyuk just wants to go through the screen to hug him.

 

“Oh,” the two boys fall into silence, as Minhyuk seems to run his thoughts over the possibility of his little brother going deaf  “can they do much for you?” he decides on asking Mark, who looks a little expectant of a bad reaction, even though he knows his older brother would do anything for him.

 

“Mum and I are going to learn sign language together, and they’re going to start working on getting me hearing aids soon.” the two nod, as Mark gives all the info he knows so far in his new medical development. 

“I think I’m coming home in a year too, Mum says we’ll be moving back to Korea, so I’ll be at easy access to piss you off, like a dongsaeng should” 

Minhyuk laughs, his little brother so upbeat about losing something he held dear for a while, and Minhyuk, a musician, couldn’t understand how someone could be so nonchalant about losing hearing. But, Minhyuk decides he’ll work hard so that his little brother can live easily when he comes home, he’ll learn sign language for him.

“Okay Markie, I look forward to having you home, I miss you and Mum a lot, you know” Mark nods, and a small smile creeps its way onto his face “It’s been a long time since your last visit” Minhyuk whines, stretching out the syllables to annoy his little brother

 

“Alright, old man, no need to get sappy” Mark laughs “You call me every week, it’s not like you haven’t seen me” Minhyuk nods, but keeps up his little pout, dramatically rolling over on his bed

 

“But Marrkkkkkkk~ I haven’t  _ seen  _ you in like,,, a whole 6 months!” Mark cringes at his older brother’s antics, frowning like Minhyuk was the worst possible person he could’ve called on his weekend.

 

“Okay I’m going to hang up if you whine more MinMin” Mark threatens, a cheeky smile creeping up on his face, showing his cheekbones a little more in the light.

 

“But Marrrkkkkk I miss you” Minhyuk flops over again, pouting as he whines, putting on an over dramatic tone

 

“Sap” Mark laughs out

 

“Butt head”

 

“Love you Minhyuk, I’m going now” Mark brings the microphone on his earphones right up to his mouth to speak right into it, so it was nice and loud for his brother

 

“But Mark~” Minhyuk protests

 

“Buy dumbass, see you in a year” Mark angles the camera so that Minhyuk can’t see his little brother’s face anymore, just the light on the ceiling above Mark

 

“Okay, see ya, I’ll have a surprise when I see you though” Minhyuk says, back to his normal voice, as he sees that his little brother is actually going to hang up on him

 

“Alright, talk next week Min, I’m going to go and lay on the floor until Mum comes home from work” Mark mutters, before showing himself waving and then ends the call before Minhyuk can get another word in.

 

Minhyuk’s room is full of silence once more, the absence of his little brother’s voice echoing through the small space. He stares up at the ceiling, contemplating the fact that his little brother is losing his hearing, once more, before he sits up, leaning against the headboard of his bed, and reaches over to his side table to grab his laptop.    
Minhyuk ends up spending the rest of the afternoon searching for sign language courses near him, only to find casual sign language courses run at a cafe not too far from his house, run by someone else from his university, with a name that seems vaguely familiar to Minhyuk. By the time that Minhyuk decides he should probably get dinner ready, he’s emailed the teacher to ask if he could come along to start taking lessons, the next week, letting him know that he’s a complete beginner and he’s sorry if there’s any inconvenience because of his situation.

 

The next day, Minhyuk has an email from the teacher, Taeyong, saying that he’d be more than welcome to come along to the lessons, and he’s no trouble. Minhyuk is absolutely ecstatic that he’s going to learn to sign for his little brother, and that it can be a nice surprise for him when he comes home. Excited at the prospect, Minhyuk whips out his phone to text his friends, to encourage them to come along and learn to sign too

 

**[ seven (hot) idiots ]**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Whats up lads, Mark called me and told me he’s going Deaf**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**??? He what**

 

**From: The Mom**

**????**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Nooo my boy, he can’t hear me rap anymore**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**No loss there Kyun**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**HEY COME FIGHT ME YOU LANKY BASTARD**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Lads stop fighting**

**He said that he’s learning sign language so I’m going to learn**

**Its with this Taeyong guy at that cafe near my house**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**Taeyong from accounting?**

 

**From: The Mom**

**Oh he’s pretty cool, I think his boyfriend is Deaf?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Idk my dudes, I’m going on Wednesday after classes if anyone wants to come**

**It’s probably Taeyong from accounting**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**TY TRACK TAEYONG?**

**????**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Idk my dude,,,**

**What the hell is TY track**

**??**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Don’t bring it up with him lol**

**It’s his old mixtape**

**Chill dude tho, you’ll like him**

 

**From: MinMin**

**ANYWAY**

**Who wants to come on Wednesday?**

**I’ll come and pick you up**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**I’ll learn from my brother in law, but I will have to come next week**

**Sorry love**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**Suffer**

**I have late classes on Wednesdays ;-;**

**You can teach me outside of then tho**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Wow thanks to my boyfriend, and my boyfriend only**

**If you wanna come let me know before Wednesday morning tho**

**I'll bring my car to uni if you want to come**

 

\----

 

Minhyuk ends up going alone to the sign language class, double checking the address as he pulls up across the road from a little cafe that he walks past to go to uni sometimes. Checking he had the right time for probably the millionth time that day, Minhyuk makes sure that he has his keys and wallet, before locking his car and walking to the cafe.

When he enters, the warm smell of spiced coffee meets Minhyuk’s senses, the warm homely feel of the cafe welcoming Minhyuk, before an intimidating looking red-head with sharp features, stands up and walks over to Minhyuk. He takes a little step back, before the boy extends his hand to Minhyuk, with a smile on his face.

 

“You must be Minhyuk? You’re a little bit early, but everyone else will be here soon” Minhyuk nods, shaking the boy’s hand, he looks a little younger than Minhyuk, but nonetheless, his face looks very intimidating without the smile currently decorating his features.

“I’m Taeyong, come and sit down over here, this is my boyfriend Doyoung, he’s Deaf, but he can lip read so don’t talk shit” The soft-looking black haired boy seated on one of the couches, looking quite comfortable in his seat, raises his eyebrows, and waves at Minhyuk when he sees Taeyong gesture to him. Before grinning, and moving his hands in what Minhyuk assumes to be sign language, as he speaks with a soft lisp

 

“Hi, I’m Doyoung! Are you new?” He raises his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side, like a questioning puppy, making Minhyuk short-circuit for a single second as his brain processes the cuteness of the stranger. When he realises he didn’t respond for a beat too long, Minhyuk nods frantically, before smiling at the stranger, mumbling a quick introduction

“Hi, I’m Minhyuk, my little brother Mark is going Deaf so I’m going to learn how to sign”

Doyoung frowns for a second, before looking at Taeyong for a translation, which he gives, before looking back at Minhyuk and smiling, like a parent that’s about to educate a kid

“Minhyuk it’s lovely to meet you! But next time please don’t mumble, I can’t understand you if you mumble”

Minhyuk’s face flushes red, and he looks down, before semi-dramatically sitting down on the couch opposite Doyoung, that makes Taeyong laugh, smiling widely at the newcomer

 

“Don’t worry Minhyuk, everyone does it the first few times, you’ll get better” Minhyuk flushes a little redder at that, a little smile creeping its way onto his face as he nods, shoulders moving in silent laughter at himself.

 

Their small lull into background noise is interrupted when 3 boys walk in, laughing and signing, the shortest of the three bright red and cackling.

 

“And here comes the chaos trio” Taeyong mutters, before turning around on the couch, and signing something at the three boys, who all bow at their hyung, before sitting alongside Minhyuk on the couch, who just gives a little wave and a small voiced introduction.

 

“Hi I’m Minhyuk” The trio introduce themselves at Jeno, sitting next to Minhyuk, Renjun in the middle, and Jaemin, who jumps into sign conversation with Doyoung, as soon as he’s settled down, with his phone on the table.

 

After a few minutes, a tall boy with a thick American accent shows up with his purple haired friend, and every settles down on the couch, Minhyuk watches with interest as Taeyong’s demeanour changes to become a little more formal, as he signs to the group, telling them all something that Minhyuk can only hope to understand in the coming year. Once everyone has nodded, Taeyong rests back into his seat, signing while he talks

 

“Alright, we’re going to start with introductions, Minhyuk, we’ll go over the alphabet and then we’ll get started. For the rest of you, this is just revision, okay?” 

Surprisingly, Minhyuk remembers the signs for each character pretty easily, relating each sign to the hangul easily enough, and within ten minutes, he can sign his own name, and has been introduced to everyone, copying their names as they sign it, so he gets the feeling of the fluidity of names a bit better. He can tell that everyone else in the group is much more fluent than Minhyuk, when their signs flow together in a beautiful rhythm of movements.

 

“We’ll do some more greetings today, and then break off into conversations as per usual, alright everyone?” 

Taeyong looks at everyone in the class and waits for a nod in reply, before he begins to run through greetings, and casual conversation starters. Minhyuk fumbles on a few signs, not quite grasping the movements of asking someone how they are, until Jeno, bless his soul, taps Minhyuk on the arm with a smile, and shows him each part of the sign until Minhyuk can do it properly, giving him an eye smile when he gets it correct.

By the time everyone else breaks off into conversations, Taeyong opts to just sit and chat with Minhyuk verbally, rather than signing, being his first lesson.

 

“So why were you learning again, Minhyuk?” Taeyong asks, his eyes looking soft on his sharp face.

 

“My little brother Mark, he called me last week and told me that he’s only got two years left before he’s fully deaf, according to the doctor he went and saw” Taeyong smiles with understanding in his eyes, and nods for Minhyuk to continue “He’s not living at home with me right now, so when he comes back, I want to surprise him by signing to him” Minhyuk smiles a little sheepishly at his new teacher, after spilling his little story, wondering if it was a little too personal for their first meeting.

 

“Ah, I see” Taeyong nods, his eyes flicking over to Jaemin and Doyoung in a very animated conversation, Jaemin’s arms flailing widely, and Doyoung nodding as he follows the story with little movements of his head

“I learnt to sign for Doyoung, when we met, I was so fascinated by him, so I took lessons at a university after I finished my high school classes, so that I could talk to him. It was very intense, because I was learning so much in a short amount of time, but it was worth it. Jeno and Renjun are here, learning for Jaemin too, because he lost a lot of his hearing after a bad ear infection, so they learn together, along with my little brother, Donghyuck.” Minhyuk nods eagerly at the story, knowing that he’s not the only one learning to sign for another person close to them.

 

“I’ll let you in on a little secret though, but you can’t tell Donghyuck when you meet him” Taeyong leans forward, stage whispering with his hand covering his mouth so that the Deaf boys sitting next to them couldn’t lip read, despite literally everyone else in the room being able to hear him.

 

“What is it, I promise I won’t tell” Minhyuk stage whispers back to Taeyong, with a little grin on his face

 

“My brother has learnt two different sign languages, just for his boyfriend who lives overseas at the moment” Minhyuk smiles at the eagerness of Donghyuck in learning languages so he can be connected to his loved ones “well, he learnt KSL from exposure to Doyoung and I, and he’s pretty close to the younger trio over there, so he’s bound to know that. But he’s quite cute because he’s learning American Sign Language online so that he can talk to his boyfriend”

 

“Wait a second” Minhyuk pauses, realising that Taeyong just listed two different areas with different sign languages “So sign languages aren’t universal? That’s so cool!” When Taeyong laughs a little at him, Minhyuk shys away a little, looking down at Taeyong’s hands instead of making eye contact, following them as they move automatically while he speaks

 

“It’s pretty cool! Most people don’t realise there’s different dialects too! When we get further into the lessons I’ll make sure to teach you about some Deaf culture, with Doyoung’s help, but for the moment we’ll just focus on getting you to the stage where you can hold a conversation without having to speak” Taeyong smiles, patting Minhyuk on the arm lightly, before he stands up and wanders over to where Johnny and Jaehyun are conversing, putting himself into their conversation with ease. Minhyuk can tell they’re all friends, and he hopes that he can convince his friends to come with him so that they can all meet, and get closer to one another. 

 

Spotting Minhyuk sitting alone for just a second, Jaemin taps Minhyuk on the shoulder, giving him a little start

 

“Do you want to join us? We can just speak for now if you would like” Jaemin offers with a soft voice, his smile coming through in his tone. Minhyuk considers it for a second before nodding, eager to learn more about the people he would be signing with in the future

 

“Of course, thank you Jaemin, that sounds lovely” He shuffles over on the couch so that he can see both Jaemin and Doyoung, while watching their hands as the two sign and talk, impressed by the speed and precision of each movement. He can understand why his little brother could learn this so fast, his keen eye for choreography could definitely come in handy when using his body to talk. 

“You two can just sign if you would like, I need to learn” Minhyuk speaks up after a second, waving his hand a tiny bit in front of his body, to make sure that Doyoung knows he’s going to speak. He doesn’t expect the little shake of Doyoung’s head, as he smiles at the newcomer

 

“Nonsense, you are part of this conversation too, we will speak so you can understand too” Minhyuk nods, grinning at the two new boys, glad he decided to come here instead of other places to learn sign, their welcoming aura and effort to include him, not going unnoticed.

 

They squad of boys end up signing and just chatting for about an hour longer than Taeyong had told Minhyuk over email, so by the time that they finished up, Minhyuk was ready to get some dinner, and the trio of boys, who were still as constantly hectic left, making sure to promise they would text Doyoung or Taeyong when they got home. Jaehyun and Johnny left together, and Minhyuk was later told that the two lived together in a share-house, and were learning to sign solely for when they couldn’t be bothered talking. Minhyuk wasn’t surprised, but it still made him laugh nonetheless, as he waited behind to thank Taeyong and Doyoung for being so welcoming towards him.

 

“Seriously, Minhyuk” Taeyong places his hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder with a massive grin, mirrored by Doyoung “it’s more than okay! I’m glad you came, it’s always nice to see more people keen to learn.” 

 

“I’d do anything for my little brother, he deserves to be able to talk to all of our family without needing to text us” Minhyuk smiles, nodding to accentuate his words, Doyoung grins harder, nodding at Minhyuk, before stumbling over his words a little in his excitement.

 

“I’m absolutely sure he will be touched that you put in effort for him” He smiles and looks tenderly at Minhyuk “You are a great friend to your brother, I can tell” 

 

On the lovely note of their evening, Minhyuk bids the two a good night, and walks across the road to his car, before starting his drive home, smiling about the new world of friendships and possibilities he was exposed too thanks to his little brother.

 

\-- --

 

**[ seven (hot) idiots ]**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**So yeah, I wouldn’t recommend eating my sister’s cooking while shes sleep deprived**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Yeah that’s fair**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Whats up lads**

**I have returned**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**How was the class?**

**And more importantly, is Taeyong cool**

 

**From: MinMin**

**The class was really chill**

**Y’all would like it!**

**And yeah Taeyong is cool**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Was it TY Track Taeyong?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**How would I be able to identify if it was or not?**

**He was teaching me how to sign the alphabet**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Red Hair? Looks kinda scary?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Oh yeah**

**That’s the dude**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**Oh that’s Taeyong from accounting!**

**I’ll make sure to come next week if you say it’s a good class**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**I’ll come too if you save me right now by ordering pizza**

 

**From: MinMin**

**How about you learn how to cook**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**If you walk literally two houses away, mum made fried rice**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**I can’t believe this, Jooheon gets Hyungwon’s mum’s food**

**Hyungwon convince her to bring me fried rice pleaseeeee**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Alright lads I’m gonna make dinner**

**Have fun eating scraps Kyun**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**RUDE**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Oh wow look at that**

**It’s my little brother calling me so I have an excuse to leave you alone**

 

\-- --

 

Minhyuk leans his phone up against the splashboard of the stove while he stirs his fried rice, waiting for his phone to connect properly to the video call, Mark’s face popping up a second later, with his earphones in waving at the phone.

 

“Can you hear me fine with this new microphone?” Mark asks, holding the microphone up to his lips, waiting for his brother’s response. Minhyuk nods, but reaches over to his phone to turn it up to full volume so he’s sure that he will be able to hear Mark fine.

 

“Yup, can hear you loud and clear” Minhyuk reaches up and switches off the exhaust fan over the stove, just to make sure that Mark doesn’t have to try to filter through a lot of noise to hear his voice 

“So what’s up in the freezing world of Canada today?” 

Mark goes on for a little bit, animatedly telling Minhyuk about his new friend at school, Felix, who’s Australian accent was so hard for everyone else to understand, that they just ended up texting each other for half the class, just communicating mostly in memes. Mark is very excited when he tells Minhyuk that his friend Felix will be moving to Korea soon to study, so they can still hang out once he comes back, and Minhyuk laughs, but thinks about the chaos that the two will bring to their, currently quite silent, household.

When Mark finishes blurting out his stories about school, Minhyuk quickly butts in to tell Mark that he met some really cool people at a cafe earlier in the night, making sure not to let him know it was a sign language class, to keep up his surprise for the end of the year.

 

“Met this cool group of guys at a study group today” Minhyuk says, facing the camera, while watching his food with his eyes, realising that he should make sure that Mark can see his mouth to lipread

“There was one guy, Jeno, he was really sweet, kept helping me out when I was getting stuck, you’d like him” Mark’s eyebrows raise up a little, before he lets out a high pitched laugh, that never fails to brighten his older brother’s day

 

“Jeno as in my friend from high school, Jeno?” Mark laughs, raising his eyebrows at Minhyuk, watching as the realisation dawns on the older’s face

 

“Uhh, yeah, I think it might be, actually” Minhyuk laughs, hoping that Mark didn’t connect the dots that Minhyuk was going to a sign language class with Mark’s old friend

 

“He’s cool! I haven’t talked to him in a while though! Do you know what he’s up to lately, Min?”  Minhyuk gives his little brother a grin, trying to figure out how to side track his brother and get him to avoid figuring out about the sign language courses

 

“Uh, I don’t know, but hey, do you want me to send you some of my dinner” Minhyuk grabs his phone from where it’s balancing, switching over the camera to show his brother his kimchi fried rice, steaming on the stove

 

“Oh man, please, I miss your fried rice so much dude” Mark pouts at his phone as Minhyuk places the phone back, and starts to serve himself a bowl of fried rice, bringing his phone to join him at the kitchen table.

Minhyuk fiddles with the phone, trying to balance it against literally anything, before he gets back up, leaving a pouting Mark to stare at the ceiling, getting a mug from the cupboard to lean his phone against.

 

“Okay, your desired Brother Visuals has returned” Minhyuk jokes, as he angles his phone so that Mark can see him again, starting to eat, while Mark scoffs at him

 

“Yeah sure, as if I’m not the visual of the family” Mark laughs, earning protests from Minhyuk, with his mouth full, waving his hand at the camera as if he’s going to slap his brother through the phone

“Heyyy, I forgot to tell you, Mum and I went and got my hearing aids fitted, and we’re getting them configured next week” Minhyuk nods, humming at his brother 

“Wait a second, I’ll send you a photo of the ones I decided on”  Mark fiddles with his phone, the video pausing on his squinting face, as he tries to find, and send the photo to Minhyuk.

 

“Okay it should be sending now,,,, and there it goes” Mark mutters into the mic, before Minhyuk pics up his own phone to go to his messages. When the picture finally loads (thanks, slow overseas messaging) Minhyuk sees a pair of hearing aids, modelled by a very much posing Mark, with warm pink ear tube, and a bright pink over ear case. He’s about to ask why the colour, when Mark butts in before his brother can speak

 

“So I called Hyuck while I was choosing the colour, and he’s so cute, and he really loves the pink, so we got it” Mark seems proud of his decision, through the tone of his voice

“Come back onto video, coward” he mutters, causing Minhyuk to let out a little huff of protest again, before switching back over to the video call

“I thought I might as well be proud about my hearing loss, because fuck those skin coloured hearing aids, I’m a bad bitch, they can’t put me off showing off my hearing aids” Mark laughs a little at his own comment, looking at his smiling brother’s face for a reaction

 

“Hell yeah, show off those hearing aids you fashionista” Minhyuk laughs, pride swelling in his chest, at his little brother’s boldness “Your boyfriend has good taste in colours” Mark lets out a little laugh as he shies away from the camera a bit, angling it more toward the ceiling

 

“Yeah, he does, he’s a goddamn fashion king” Mark jokes, before looking at something that Minhyuk can’t see, before angling the camera back at himself and waving.

“Mum’s telling me we have to go soon, we’re going on a trip today, so I’ll message you later if you’re lucky” Minhyuk smiles at his little brother, with his mouth full of food, frantically trying to swallow it.

 

“Love you Min!” The boy’s mum yells from wherever she is in the house with Mark, so Minhyuk rushes to be able to yell back

 

“Love you Mum! I’ll talk later Mark, have fun!” Mark laughs, while waving, telling his mum that Minhyuk had screamed his love into Mark’s ears (because it’s easy to forget that Mark doesn’t have his phone on speaker) before ending the call with a peace sign and a wide grin.

 

Minhyuk smiles at his phone and finishes off his dinner

 

\-- -- 

 

**[ seven (hot) idiots ]**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I can’t believe this**

**Mark’s a fashion icon**

 

**From: The Mum**

**We been knew**

**Why tho**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**He stole all the second hand fashion looks I wish I had**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Yeah, he’s killing the thrift shop game**

 

**From: MinMin**

**{1 image attached}**

**[Image description: Mark in a bright orange shirt, his black hair is in his eyes, and he has a grin on his face while he models a bright pink hearing aid, his hands are in a flower pose to accentuate his face]**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**We been knew**

**Absolute icon**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Look at that pink**

**He’s rocking it**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Look at our boy, killing the fashion industry with that look**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I know right?**

**An icon**

**I’m glad he’s not trying to hide his hearing aid**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**Look at my brother in law**

**Tell him I love him**

 

**From: MinMin**

**He knows and he will not stop shoving it in my face**

**You’ve made him too powerful with your love**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**Thats the Dad Love because Hyunwoo is a Dad**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Yeah ur right**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Keep ur kinks out of my chat while I’m studying, Minhyuk**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I DO NOT HAVE A DAD KINK**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Are you sure**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**Are u sure**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Are you sure about that**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**Leave my man alone**

**He has plenty of other kinks we could tease him about**

 

**From: MinMin**

**HYUNWOO YOU’RE MEANT TO BE ON MY SIDE**

 

**From: Thicc B 2 / The Dad**

**Sorry love**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I can’t believe this, ,,,**

**I’m going to go and study**

**Like the well behaved student I am**

 

\-- --

 

The second week that Minhyuk goes to the sign language classes, he manages to drag along Hyungwon and Hyunwoo, the later smiling and saying that he’d learn anything for his brother in law, leaving Minhyuk a blushing mess before they walk into the cafe. When Minhyuk gets there, with Hyungwon and Hyunwoo tagging along with shy smiles on their faces, Jaehyun and Johnny are already in a very animated conversation with Taeyong and Doyoung, laughing loudly about something that Minhyuk still can’t understand. So Minhyuk walks over to the couch setup, that has a few more seats dragged over to it than the previous week, and plops himself down on the wooden chair at the edge of the couch, Hyungwon awkwardly following and sitting on the end seat of the couch, practically sitting on the arm rest, and Hyunwoo seated on the wooden chair next to Minhyuk. 

When Taeyong finishes saying something to the trio he was talking with, he turns to Minhyuk with a wide grin

 

“You bought friends! The more the merrier! I’ll teach you two the alphabet before the chaos trio get here, then we can work on more domestic stuff today.” 

After about twenty minutes of running through the alphabet, and making sure that all 3 of the boys could sign their names and introduce themselves easily enough, the Chaos Trio, as Minhyuk had come to know them, show up, with a cackle that alerts the hearing members of the group to their arrival. Hyunwoo is a little shocked at the noise that comes with the group who are signing, but making a hell of a ruckus at the same time, not sure what he was expecting from a group of people, eyes darting to meet Minhyuk’s who just smiles and nods, placing a soft hand on Hyunwoo’s leg.

 

Taeyong starts the class off with introductions, as he did the week before, and once everyone’s gone around the circle, he smiles at everyone before Doyoung speaks up.

 

“Okay, we will learn stuff for around home this week, since Minhyuk, you said your little brother will be coming back to live at home with you.” Minhyuk nods, following Doyoung’s hands with his eyes, while he explains what they will be covering.

 

Doyoung works a lot on a mirroring style of learning, which Minhyuk is surprised to see Hyungwon catch on to very quickly, able to ask for kitchen appliances within the hour. What Minhyuk found most entertaining though, was watching Hyungwon go from his normally quite small expressions, to his dramatic expressions while signing, earning a thumbs up from Doyoung.

 

The boys work through vocab in groups for another hour after Doyoung teaches them simple phrases like “Can you pass me the pan?” and “Can I please have the sauce?”, and once Taeyong and Doyoung are sure that everyone understands well enough, Taeyong stands up and breaks the little mumbling and concentrated signing from everyone, getting everyone’s attention. He smiles as he speaks and signs

 

“Okay everyone, conversation time, then we’re going out for drinks later, everyone but the chaos trio are invited” The younger boys whine in protest, when Taeyong tells them they’re underaged and he’s not buying them drinks, and the older guys all laugh at them, making the younger boys whine more until Doyoung tells them that he’ll take them out for drinks when they turn 21.

Everyone breaks off into their regular groups again, and Doyoung comes over to sit with Minhyuk, Hyungwon and Hyunwoo, grinning as he takes a seat next to Hyungwon.

 

“You guys are more than welcome to join us later” Doyoung smiles while he signs,

“It’ll be nice to have some new faces in the group, and don’t worry, we won’t just be signing, we have a lot of hearing friends who will meet us there” Hyunwoo nods, looking to Minhyuk and Hyungwon for confirmation that they’ll be going.

 

“I’ll have to drink soda so I can drive, but yeah, I’ll be there” Doyoung smiles at Minhyuk’s response, and looks to Hyungwon, who nods with a smile

 

“Sounds fun, no loss in coming” 

 

The group end up travelling in a pack to the bar, which happens to be the other side of the university, where everyone from the sign language group, plus about 4 other friends, make haste in getting a group of tables so that everyone can eat and banter well into the night.

Minhyuk decides around 11 that he should probably be getting home, because he has a 10am class the next day, and he would like to be mostly conscious for it, despite the protests from Hyungwon who was having a blast, dancing with Jaehyun and Taeyong to some pop song with bass so high that Minhyuk could feel it in his legs, despite the temptation to join, Hyunwoo helps Minhyuk convince Hyungwon that it’s time to go back to Minhyuk’s for the night, to sleep off the drinks.

 

“Hey, thanks for coming” Doyoung smiles, big and genuine when he sees Minhyuk start to collect up the drunk duo he’d driven there “It was very fun, you’re great to talk to”

 

“I’m glad I came” Minhyuk almost yells, then catches himself, realising that Doyoung was lipreading, and the volume of his voice did nothing when it met his Deaf ears, he offers a genuine smile, before turning around to yell for Hyunwoo to help Hyungwon over to the car, before he leaves without them

 

“I’ll see you next week Doyoung” Minhyuk grins, waving quickly at the other people he knew, before walking out the door with a still very excited Hyungwon, and a very smiley Hyunwoo. 

 

They get home without much trouble, after Hyungwon manages to buckle himself into the back of Minhyuk’s car, giving a smile with half-lidded eyes and a thumbs up, before staring out the window as Minhyuk sees a couple of the boys that were at the bar, file into Johnny’s car. Hyunwoo and Minhyuk end up managing to make it to the bed, when they get back to Minhyuk’s house, trying not to wake up Minhyuk’s dad, who would be getting up early to go to work, and after a little bit of stumbling while trying to be quiet, Hyungwon ends up asleep on top of the sheets of Mark’s bed, pristine from months of unuse. If Minhyuk’s dad notices Hyungwon softly snoring at the end of the hall, with the bedroom door wide open, he doesn’t bring it up with Minhyuk when he gets home from his classes the next day, he just leaves 4 iced coffees in the door of the fridge, for the slightly hungover boys, to help them through the day.

 

\-- --

 

Minhyuk goes to the classes, every week without fail, determined to learn as much as he could for his brother, even going to Doyoung and Taeyong’s place after a few classes, to have some drinks together, and to help Minhyuk get used to using his signing instead of his words. By the time that Mark calls Minhyuk, his phone on speaker, with the volume all the way up, and his pink hearing aids in, to let his older brother that he’ll be coming home in a month, Minhyuk is sure that he will be able to surprise his little brother in the most touching way. He nods, and assures Mark that he’ll come to pick him and their Mum up from the airport, with Hyunwoo too, since he insists that he’s Mark’s favourite.

 

“Can you and Hyunwoo bring me a hot chocolate from that cafe near your Uni for me when you come to get mum and I? Pleaseeeeee,, Minhyuuuk” Mark whines, dramatically throwing himself down on the couch, pouting at the camera

 

“Yeah, of course, you giant baby” Minhyuk laughs at the younger’s antics, loud and genuine, making Mark smile at the phone “I think Hyunwoo would drive to the airport to get you himself if I said no” Mark cackles, hitting his leg repeatedly as his eyebrows raise up into their classic seagull shape.

 

“Who’s the favourite in this relationship? Me or you Minhyuk? I’m starting to think it’s me” Mark cackles evilly, smiling at his brother’s pout on his screen

 

“Shut up, he loves you like we’re already married, and you’re his little brother in law that he gets to spoil” Minhyuk grumbles, making sure he’s still pronouncing his words clearly enough that Mark can hear everything.

 

“Sure, you think that Min, I’m still pretty convinced that I’m his favourite” Mark quips, before rolling over so that he’s laying on the couch, and isn’t going to drop his phone on his face, but knocks every single thing with his phone, while rolling, making Minhyuk miss whatever he said.

 

“Wait what was that Mark? I didn’t hear you” Minhyuk raises his eyebrows, as his little brother settles down after squirming for a bit longer

 

“And here I was thinking I was the only one losing my hearing, huh” Mark lets out a little giggle “I said that I’m going to have to go, Hyuck texted me saying that he’s going to call soon” 

 

“Oh okay, have fun then Mark! I’ll see you in like a month I guess!”

 

\-- --

 

**[ seven idiots ]**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Guess what my dudes**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**I changed Hyunwoo’s screen name?**

**You can thank me for that**

 

**From: MinMin**

**No, but thanks Won**

**Mark’s coming back in a month!**

 

**From: The Dad**

**Yessss**

**I Haven’t see Mark in so long, I miss that little man**

**From: MinMin**

**Woo Back at it Again with the favouritism**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**Okay but he’s valid**

**We all love Mark**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Hoseok’s right**

**He’s like our adoptive son**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Oh hell yeah, can I come over and hang out after Mark gets back?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I can’t stop you and I know that**

**But at least wait a couple of days**

**He’s gonna be incredibly jetlagged**

 

**From: The Dad**

**Did he demand hot chocolate?**

**Because I’m going to get it for him anyway**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Yeah he did,,,,**

**We’ll be getting it from the uni cafe at Mark’s demand**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Lads I just fell down the stairs**

**Oh lol what’s this about Mark coming back**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Kyun are you okay**

**Should I call an ambulance**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**I don’t think I broke any bones**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**YOU DON’T THINK????**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Dude you need to chill,,, stop falling down stairs**

 

**From: MinMin**

**You need Help Kyun**

**Move in with Kihyun and get your shit together oh my god**

**But yeah, Mark is coming back in a month**

**Oh dad’s home now**

**I’m gonna go cook dinner, does anyone wanna come over?**

 

**From: The Dad**

**I’ll be there in 15 with crepes for your dad**

**He likes the ones with strawberries yeah?**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Oh my god,,,**

**Look at Hyunwoo being a good son in law**

 

**From: MinMin**

**You’re just jealous Kyun**

**And yeah babe, he loves the strawberries**

 

\-- --

 

While Mark is getting his final things packed into his suitcase so that he can move back to live with Minhyuk, he facetimes his older brother, a massive grin on his face, and curly hair tufted every which way, body swamped in his massive hoodie, which Minhyuk is pretty sure that Mark stole from his wardrobe, after Minhyuk had taken it from Hyunwoo’s.

 

“Whats up nerd, are you excited to see me?” Mark holds the phone close to his face, a massive grin decorating his face, making Minhyuk laugh at him, Minhyuk rolls over on his bed, and pulls the phone right up to his face, mirroring his little brother’s expression. The two cackle a little and Mark is the first to put his phone back down, angling it against the wall, resting on his headboard, so that Minhyuk can see him while he’s packing.

 

“So we’re flying out in about 10 hours, I think Mum said” Mark says, facing the camera for a second, as he grabs his backpack from under his bed, stuffing his final chargers into the front pockets “That means we’ll be there around this time tomorrow, so I hope you’re actually awake and there on time” Mark raises his eyebrow and points his finger as if he is scolding the older man.

 

“Hey, I won’t be late, Hyunwoo is making sure that we’re going to be there an hour early” Minhyuk grins at his little brother, turning the phone camera around so Mark can see his open bedroom door, and Hyunwoo laying on the couch “He’s having a nap right now, but I can assure you, he wants to be there to see you as soon as you get off that plane” Mark hums, reaching out to grab his phone, before taking a walk to the Canadian house’s bathroom

 

“I’m glad, and don’t think I’ll let you live it down if you forget me” Mark laughs, grabbing a variety of skincare products from off the counter and throwing them into his backpack

 

“I hope you’re putting those in a plastic bag Mark, I’m not cleaning moisturiser out of your bag if it explodes on the plane” Minhyuk warns, putting on his ‘mock mum’ tone, he raises his eyebrows and taunts his little brother for a tad bit longer, until he sees Mark frown at him through the phone.

 

“Okay, I’ll put it in a plastic bag, I swear, not even Mum is this precise about my packing” Mark pouts, but leans his phone up against the bathroom wall, disappearing out of frame for a second, before grabbing a plastic bag and putting his bottles in it, showing Minhyuk, as he dramatically zips up the ziplock, and throws it into his bag.

“Done, you happy?” Mark pops his hip out, hand resting on it, a pose that Mark often said that his boyfriend did, the influence wearing off on him.

 

“Yeah I’m happy” Minhyuk laughs, smiling at his brother “Hey Mark, you gonna sleep on the plane?”

 

“No, gonna stay awake for all 14 hours” Mark says, voice flat and sarcastic “What do you think dumbass, I’m going to arrive after being awake for 32 hours? Not really great for the ‘be awake when you arrive’ agenda” Mark tries to keep his serious face, but fails after a few minutes, losing it laughing, Minhyuk lasting a few seconds before he joins his brother in laughter.

 

“Yeah that’s what I thought, are you using that cat eye mask that Hyunwoo bought you last time?”

 

“I maybe lost it when I was at the airport last” Mark stretches out the last syllable, a guilty smile on his face, when Minhyuk raises his eyebrows, Mark rushes to make up an excuse, but Minhyuk can see his excuses die before he says them.

“Don’t tell him please Minhyuk, I’ll just say I lent it to Mum or something” Minhyuk laughs, watching his little brother panic mildly

 

“It’s all good, I won’t tell him if you don’t tell him that I also lost my mask in the same day he gave it to me” Mark cackles too, looking at his brother with a slightly bewildered expression

“God we’re so bad at keeping things, we’re lucky our heads are stuck on, or we’d lose them”

 

“God we really are awful, now Mark, let’s go through your checklist again, don’t leave anything important in Canada” The two run through the checklist on Mark’s phone for roughly half an hour, before their Mum pops into the frame, telling Minhyuk to let his brother pack without distraction, much to the protests of Minhyuk, reminding his Mum that Mark would have forgotten his laptop charger if it wasn’t for his amazing older brother. Their Mum laughs, and makes Minhyuk wish his family members goodbye, assuring him that they’ll call him when they get to the airport terminal.

 

“Alright, get to the airport safely, I’ll see you this time tomorrow, with a hopefully quite awake Hyunwoo” Mark salutes to the screen, and ends the call, leaving Minhyuk to get up, and start making lunch for himself and his very sleepy boyfriend.

 

When Hyunwoo wakes up, he’s a little groggy for about half an hour, but he stands up with Minhyuk as he makes an omelette for them each, leaning his head on Minhyuk’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his smaller boyfriend’s middle, but to Minhyuk’s half-hearted protests that they won’t be able to move out of the way if he has to put a flaming pot in the sink. Hyunwoo smiles lazily, his eyes slowly drifting shut again to Minhyuk’s humming as he cooks the omelettes, snuggling his head into the nape of Minhyuk’s neck.

 

“Don’t fall asleep on me again, handsome, I don’t think I can hold you up while I’m cooking” Minhyuk turns his head, placing a soft kiss on Hyunwoo’s jawline, before shifting to grab two plates out of the cupboard next to the stove, serving up Hyunwoo’s omelettes.

“Plus, food’s up, better eat it before I do” That gets Hyunwoo’s full attention, the taller man unlatching himself from his boyfriend, before grabbing his plate and chopsticks, to go and sit at the little kitchen table, Minhyuk’s bright laughter following him, making the man smile. When Minhyuk watches Hyunwoo shovel the omelette into his mouth, with a satisfied hum, Minhyuk lets out a little laugh, before joining his boyfriend at the table, with his own plate of omelette.

 

The two finish up their omelettes, then make themselves comfortable on Minhyuk’s couch, watching Netflix to pass the time before Mark inevitably called Minhyuk again, to let him know that they were safely at the airport, and departing in an hour or so.

When Mark calls, it’s Hyunwoo who answers, with a loving grin on his face, showing Mark and his Mum a very sleepy Minhyuk, laying on the couch, and softly snoring.

“I think he was a little excited about you guys coming home” Hyunwoo chuckles, running his fingers through Minhyuk’s curls “he’s gone and tired himself out”

Mark laughs, screenshotting the call for blackmail material, and Minhyuk twitches a little in his sleep at the sound of his little brother. After a couple of minutes of banter between Hyunwoo and Mark, Mark hands his phone over to his mother, who is smiling and waving at the phone, she coos at her eldest son, asleep in apparently his ‘typical exhausted sleeping position’, to which Hyunwoo agrees on

 

“We’ll see you boys at the airport in 14 hours then Hyunwoo, let Minhyuk know that we called when he wakes up okay?” The boys’ Mum smiles at Hyunwoo, before waving and ending the call, letting Hyunwoo join his boyfriend in sleep.

 

\-- --

 

When Minhyuk wakes up, he grabs his phone, only to frown in disappointment, the time showing that he definitely missed his little brother’s call before the flight. He shuffles over on the couch, getting comfortable again, and after setting a few more alarms than necessary, for about 6 hours before he had to get his brother, Minhyuk sets his head back down against Hyunwoo, who unconsciously wraps his arm around his boyfriend, pulling him closer into his chest. Minhyuk grins in his boyfriend’s hold before joining him back in dreamland.

 

\-- --

 

Hyunwoo is the first to get up, minutes before Minhyuk’s alarms, effectively beating his boyfriend to the shower, getting all the hot water. When he gets out, Minhyuk pretends to act grumpy that Hyunwoo took a shower without him, but after a minute of grumbling about how unfair it is that he missed out on seeing his boyfriend’s bed hair, Minhyuk hands Hyunwoo a cup of fresh coffee, before kissing him on the cheek, and going to get ready to see his little brother. 

Once Minhyuk is dressed, and has breakfast, he sits down with Hyunwoo, making sure that they both knew how to welcome their favourite younger boy back to Korea in sign language, knowing that Mark just turned his phone up really loud, or had his headphones in whenever he took a call so that he could talk to his brother easily enough.

 

**[ seven idiots ]**

 

**From: The Dad**

**Hey guys we’re going to pick up Mark soon, so if you want to call him to annoy him when we get him, let us know**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**I’ll just come and piss him off in person on Thursday**

**Better be prepared**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Please don’t crush my little brother**

**He is but a baby**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**He Is Twenty**

**He’s not a baby, Min**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I’m sure Hyunwoo agrees, if you’re six years younger than me**

**You’re a baby**

 

**From: The Dad**

**Okay but Mark acts like a literal child**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**For as long as I still have this screen name, Mark is a baby**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Go off I guess**

 

**From: MinMin**

**ANYWAY**

**We’re getting my baby brother and Mum from the airport in like 4 hours**

**You guys can call me if you desperately want to talk to Mark**

**But he’ll be at home with me**

 

**From: The Mum**

**That’s only if his boyfriend doesn’t steal him - Hoseok**

**Hoseok has a point, you can’t stop Hyuck**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Why aren’t you using your own phone Hoseok**

 

**From: The Mum**

**Kihyun’s driving me to work**

**So I get the power of texting**

**;)) - Hoseok**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Okay thats valid**

**I’m gonna call Jaemin and make sure that I’m not going to make a fool of myself**

**Gotta make sure I can sign everything just fine**

 

**From: The Mum**

**You will be fine Min! You’ve been making sure you’re learning heaps each week**

**Your KSL is better than my Korean, ngl - Hoseok**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**Have fun**

**I’m going to sleep**

 

\-- --

  
  


After Minhyuk spends way too long in the airport parking finding a 4 hour parking space, he and Hyunwoo walk for what feels like absolutely forever, once Hyunwoo remembers to take note of where the hell they parked, they reach the main airport terminal. While Hyunwoo asks the lady at the info desk where they needed to be in the airport, when Mark arrives, Minhyuk stares blankly around the main area of the airport, his eyes landing on an unexpected red head of hair, and a slightly shorter, blonde head of curls.

Minhyuk waves to get the taller man’s attention, when he sees Taeyong looking his way, quickly signing

 

_ “Why are you here?” _ Minhyuk grins at who he knows to be Donghyuck, Taeyong’s little brother. Before Taeyong can get a word in, Donghyuck butts in

 

_ “We’re coming to see my boyfriend, he’s moving back to Korea, but he’s going to be tired, so I thought we’d see him before he goes home” _ Taeyong smiles sympathetically at Minhyuk, who takes a second to process the burst of signing that Donghyuck just through at him.

 

_ “What he said, I got dragged along because Donghyuck can’t drive yet” _ Taeyong tilts his head, levelling a flat stare that could burn right through his brother’s head, but Donghyuck just smiles innocently, as if his brother definitely didn’t want to murder him right now.

 

_ “Cool, where do you guys have to wait? We can wait together if you’d like” _ Minhyuk offers, as Hyunwoo comes up behind him, placing an arm over Minhyuk’s shoulders.

 

“So the lady said it’s just past the shops, and then we should just need to walk straight and we’ll find it easily enough” Hyunwoo smiles at Taeyong and Donghyuck, and then looks at Minhyuk for a second, his eyes trying to communicate his confusion of ‘Why the hell is your sign language tutor and his little brother here?’, but he gives in when Minhyuk is waiting for a response from Taeyong, looking literally everywhere  _ except _ Hyunwoo.

 

“Where was it again? I think we have to wait in a similar spot too, wouldn’t it be funny if Donghyuck’s boyfriend and your brother were on the same flight?” Taeyong laughs, before they all start walking to the waiting area for Mark’s gate together. 

After a few minutes, Donghyuck starts to get a bit fidgety at sitting still in the uncomfortable chairs, so Taeyong hands him some money to go and get a warm drink to keep him occupied for a bit, sending him on a mission to get the right sort of coffee for Taeyong too. Before he skips over to the shops, with way too much energy, Donghyuck looks over to Minhyuk and Hyunwoo with a smile 

 

_ “Do you want me to get you anything?” _ When Minhyuk and Hyunwoo both shake their heads, with muttered “thank you”s, Donghyuck practically sprints to the Starbucks on the other end of the airport shopping centre. And the three older men are left sitting there, quietly in awe of the maknae’s incredible energy.

 

“Well, he’s fun to deal with when I’m this tired” Taeyong laughs, looking to Minhyuk for a response, Minhyuk grins at Taeyong, before letting out a little laugh

 

“His boyfriend must be a goddamn trouper, and I’m kind of jealous of Doyoung right now, because that’s a lot of noise to deal with.” Taeyong nods, a smile on his face, before resting his chin on his hand, shutting his eyes to block out some of the insane sensory of the airport.

Minhyuk and Hyunwoo lean on each other over the arm rests of the airport seats, scrolling through their phones, when Donghyuck comes bounding back after not even 5 minutes of semi-silence in the airport.

 

“I got you guys some Pods, mainly because I wanted some, but also because it was the same price to get two bags, so here you go” Donghyuck hands the bag of Pods out to Hyunwoo, who takes a second to realise they’re in front of him, before taking them with a smile. Minhyuk nods to the younger, quickly signing a thank you, before opening up the bag and tucking in to them. 

Taeyong gladly takes his coffee, way stronger than he normally has it, from Donghyuck, sipping at the warm liquid, and humming in satisfaction at the taste.

 

“Nothing like shitty airport Starbucks, thanks Hyuck” Taeyong smiles at his little brother, taking a couple of notes of change back, far less than they would’ve got back anywhere else, but it was an airport, so it was bound to be overpriced. Donghyuck hums in response, already absorbed in his phone, the sprint to the coffee shop managing to maintain his energy and excitement at seeing his boyfriend. The group manage to sit in silence for roughly 10 minutes, scrolling through their phones, until Minhyuk gets a message from Mark, saying that they’ll be landing within half an hour, minutes later, Donghyuk’s phone buzzes, as his boyfriend texts him, letting him know that he’ll be landing in a similar time frame.

 

“Hey Minhyuk, wanna bet who arrives first?” Donghyuck smiles up at the older, sitting across from him “Loser has to buy a coffee for the winner at the next sign language class” Minhyuk doesn’t really see the loss in betting a coffee for the younger, if it was going to amuse him for the time that they were waiting for their respective home-comers

 

“Okay, Minhyung is always pretty eager to come home, and Mum will be rushing him along, but I’ll bet you a coffee, sure Donghyuck” Minhyuk laughs a little as he places his bet with the younger, causing Hyunwoo to raise an eyebrow at their antics, smiling as he scrolls through his Twitter. 

 

“Okay, but my boyfriend hasn’t seen me in like, a whole couple of months, he’ll be missing out on the good old Donghyuck hugs” Donghyuck flairs his hands out widely as he proclaims what he thinks to be the obvious reason that his boyfriend will arrive first, earning a light smack on the arm from Taeyong, who glares for a single second

 

_ “Don’t be dramatic, it’s all up to who customs lets out first” _ Taeyong grins, sure that he’s diffused the possible argument and Donghyuck’s long and dramatic spiel about how amazing his boyfriend is. When Donghyuck leans back in his seat, his phone in his lap, Taeyong resumes texting someone on his phone, probably Doyoung, at the rate he was typing.

 

_ “I’m sure my boyfriend will get through customs first, but we’ll see in twenty minutes, won’t we” _ Minhyuk nods at Donghyuck’s cocky looks, laughing a little to himself, before he shuts his eyes and leans into Hyunwoo’s arm, Hyunwoo’s free hand immediately coming up to card through Minhyuk’s black curls.

 

When the announcement goes over the PR system to announce the arrival of Mark’s flight at its respective gate, Donghyuck practically flies out of his seat, pulling Taeyong to stand up with him while they wait for the boy’s arrival.

 

“Dude sit back down, customs takes a while, let the poor bastard get his luggage and everything, he’ll text you when he’s coming out” Taeyong sits back down, signalling for his little brother to do the same.

 

“Fine, but he already told me when he came out” Donghyuck laughs a little at his own joke, before sitting down with his arms crossed, and a huff. Minhyuk feels his phone buzz in his pocket, as he follows Hyunwoo’s scrolling with his eyes, so he fishes it out to find a text from Mark.

 

**From: Markie Poo**

**Just going through customs, see you in 15**

 

Minhyuk gives Donghyuck a cocky grin, the smirk that Donghyuck knows means that Minhyuk’s brother might beat his boyfriend out of customs.

**From: MinMin the Superior Brother**

**Coolio, I’ve got Hyunwoo and a friend here,**

**we’re betting on who’s coming out first**

 

**From: Markie Poo**

**I’ll make sure to hurry so that you win**

 

**From: MinMin the Superior Brother**

**You better, otherwise no hot chocolate on our way home**

 

**From: Markie Poo**

**Got it chief, see you soon**

 

“You’ve got 15 minutes Donghyuck, Minhyung said he’s gonna hurry for me, so that you have to buy me coffee” Minhyuk giggles a little, before returning to watching Hyunwoo scroll mindlessly through his Twitter feed.

 

“I still think that my man will get here first” Donghyuck mumbles, before sinking into his seat, pouting with his arms crossed, staring at his shoes.

 

After a miraculous 10 minutes of Donghyuck not making a fuss, and opting to just scroll through his phone, not forgetting to pout, the whole time that he waits for his boyfriend, his phone buzzes, and the half-squeal and the flail of his arms gets the attention of the older 3 boys. Hyunwoo raises his eyebrows, questioning Donghyuck as to why the hell he just flipped his shit in the middle of the airport, and Taeyong just sighs, preparing himself to stand up and wait for Hyuck’s boyfriend.

 

“He said he just got his luggage! We’ve gotta stand and wait to see who gets out first, come on Minhyuk! Stand up and wait with me!” Donghyuck practically pulls Minhyuk’s arm out of its socket when he grabs the older man’s wrist, dragging him to stand in the main walkway, where they can see people start to trickle from out where the gate was, further into the airport.

Once they’ve situated themselves with Donghyuck on lookout, Mark sends Minhyuk a text, making him look up and search for the younger in the crowd

 

**From: Markie Poo**

**Look out**

**Incoming**

**Mum’s excited to see you**

 

“I can see him now Minhyuk, you’ve definitely lost” Donghyuck grins, laughing evilly as he waves into the crowd, signing something that Minhyuk doesn’t recognise as KSL, smiling widely when he gets a response from his boyfriend

 

Minhyuk scours the crowd with his eyes, making eye contact with a tuft of black hair hidden by Hyunwoo’s massive hoodie, Mark grinning at his older brother, their Mum, a little shorter than Mark, waving frantically with a massive grin on her face at seeing her oldest son for the first time in a year.

 

“I can see Minhyung too, so it’s all a bet of who walks faster now” Minhyuk laughs, waving at his brother, Hyunwoo having decided to stand up and join the other boys with Taeyong, smiling at their antics.

 

When Mark and his Mum break away from the crowd, with a few tourists and a small group of boys, looking like models despite their long flight, who just happen to be walking in the same direction, Donghyuck practically vibrates in his spot, and Minhyuk has a grin that’s starting to hurt his cheeks. When they get closer, Mark passes his suitcase off to his mum, who waves him forward to greet Minhyuk; when Mark starts to run forward, Minhyuk braces himself for the impact of his brother’s body hitting him at a high velocity, and out of pure focus on his little brother, Minhyuk doesn’t notice that Donghyuck does the same, bracing for the impact of his boyfriend’s embrace. 

As Mark runs at the group, he aims for the middle, putting his arms out wide, which would effectively clothes-line anyone who the hug wasn’t intended for, when he makes impact, Mark takes both Donghyuck and Minhyuk with him, pressing an eager kiss into Donghyuck’s cheek, before nudging his cheek into the side of Minhyuk’s cheek. 

 

“Missed you two” Mark mumbles, holding them both tight against his short body, Donghyuck and Minhyuk look up, over Mark’s head, making eye contact, with equally confused expressions when they realise they’re both in Mark’s embrace.

 

“Missed you two babe, but why are you hugging my brother’s student?” Donghyuck presses a quick kiss into Mark’s hair, looking up at Minhyuk with a possessive glare

 

“Why are you hugging my little brother is the real question here Donghyuck” Minhyuk shoots an equally as possessive glare at Donghyuck, who puts his free hand on his hip, popping it out dramatically. Mark steps back and grins at the both of them, with a slightly amused grin on his face, before looking to his older brother

 

“Did you win the bet? Did I get here before your friend’s boyfriend?” Mark asks, his grin showing that he clearly knew what was up, having received texts from both boys, telling him to hurry so that they won the bet. When Minhyuk frowns, and makes reluctant eye contact with his younger brother, Mark laughs his lovely high pitched laugh, and Donghyuck signs something to Mark, making him laugh louder.

 

“Really? You both didn’t realise that you were both betting on me?” Donghyuck shakes his head a little, making Taeyong and Hyunwoo laugh behind the two, laughing at their two idiots

“Okay but Minhyuk, I’ve literally told you his name before, how did it not click?” Mark furrows his eyebrows, looking at his brother, whose face was going red with embarrassment, Minhyuk buries his face in his hand, squatting down, before standing up again, and smiling sheepishly at Donghyuck.

 

“So the infamous Hyuck is Donghyuck” Minhyuk says, avoiding eye contact with the younger boy “I can’t believe I didn’t pick that up” Hyunwoo steps forward, the saving grace of Minhyuk, and wraps his arms around his boyfriend’s middle, pulling him into his chest with a laugh.

 

“No one said you were the brightest, my love” He punctuates his sentence with a kiss to the bright red boy’s hair “that’s okay, together we create one fully functional human being” Mark lets out a loud and genuine laugh, as the boy’s Mum walks up to the group, two suitcases in tow, her handbag hung awkwardly over her shoulder.

 

“Hyunwoo, Taeyong, Donghyuck, so nice to see you boys here after such a long time! Minhyuk, come and hug your mother would you?” She laughs, clearly ignoring her son’s embarrassed face, and clear efforts to get away from his easy mistake, but Minhyuk listens anyway, released by Hyunwoo, he walks over to his mum, dwarfing her with his height, and pretty much crushes her in a hug.

“There we go, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Hyunwoo laughs as Minhyuk’s mum presses a bunch of kisses to his face, crushing him in a hug, effectively restricting his airways, Minhyuk looks up with pleading eyes at Hyunwoo and Taeyong, signing quickly

 

_ “Tell her I can’t breathe” _ Taeyong gives a little laugh, before smiling at Mark’s Mum

 

“Hi Misses Lee, your son can’t breathe, I think you’re crushing him” Taeyong smiles politely, as Minhyuk is released from his mother’s grip, inhaling dramatically.

 

“Wait you can sign?” Mark unintentionally yells, quieting down when Donghyuck signs something at him too quick for Minhyuk to catch

 

“Yeah I’ve been teaching him” Taeyong speaks up, grinning at Mark’s dumbfounded expression

 

_ “Surprise! Do you want to go and get hot chocolate now?”  _ Minhyuk signs, then reaches out to grab Mark’s suitcase from his Mum, he doesn’t expect the little confused noise that comes from Mark’s mouth, and Donghyuck’s little laugh

_ “What? I’m signing correctly aren’t I?” _ Minhyuk looks over to Taeyong, who nods, also looking slightly confused. Donghyuck is the one that ends Minhyuk’s confusion though, when through his laughter, he signs

 

_ “Minhyuk, Mark is the boyfriend that I learned ASL for” _ Minhyuk’s small smile at his surprise signing for his brother, falls from his face, and he squats back on the floor, head resting on Mark’s suitcase and he sighs loudly. Mark still looks absolutely confused, until Donghyuck signs something to him in ASL, and Mark lets out a little laugh, joining his brother, squatting on the floor

 

“I can’t believe you learnt to sign for me” Mark taps Minhyuk’s cheek so that his brother makes eye contact with him “It may be a sign language I don’t understand yet, but that’s okay, I’m going to be learning KSL” Mark pulls Minhyuk up by his arm so that he’s standing up, a head higher than the younger, and pulls him into a long hug

 

“Thank you Minhyuk, it means a lot, even though I have no idea what you said” Mark steps back, taking his suitcase from Minhyuk’s hand

“Can we go and get hot chocolate now? I miss the uni cafe” Mark is absolutely confused when Donghyuck bursts out laughing, and pulls Mark into a one armed hug while they’re walking

 

“What? Did I say something?” Mark looks slightly offended, looking back at the older boys walking behind him with questioning eyes

 

“That’s exactly what Minhyuk asked you if you wanted to do” Donghyuck laughs, before pressing a quick kiss to Mark’s cheek. Minhyuk laughs as well, smiling at Taeyong, who is lagging behind with Hyunwoo and Minhyuk

 

“Seriously, I’m glad that I learnt to sign anyway, I’ve met so many cool people thanks to you Yong” Minhyuk says, and the boys can tell its genuine “Anyway, it’s going to be even more chaotic with Mark at the lessons, I hope you’re ready for chaos” Taeyong groans at that, but laughs ever so slightly, as they leave the airport to go to their respective cars, with Donghyuck making a fuss that he had to leave Mark alone, saying that he’ll never see Mark again if Minhyuk takes him from him.

 

The boys eventually separate into their cars after Taeyong reminds Donghyuck that he can literally walk to Mark’s house from where they live, and then Donghyuck happily goes on his way, with a tired Taeyong ready to drive him back home, only after promising that he was going to come over the next day. Hyunwoo sits in the back with Mark, as Minhyuk drives home, chatting with his Mum, who sits in the passenger seat. A couple of times Minhyuk catches Hyunwoo’s loving smiles directed at Mark in the rear-view mirror, and he smiles at the comfort of his family reunited.

While he’s sitting at traffic lights, Minhyuk looks into the back seat of his car, only to find Mark asleep in Hyunwoo’s arm, Hyunwoo looking at him with a smile. When Hyunwoo catches Minhyuk’s eyes, he grins, warm and loving, signing quickly, trying not to knock Mark while he sleeps 

 

“He’s so cute” Minhyuk mirrors Hyunwoo’s smile as the lights change and he finishes their drive home, stopping off at the University Cafe to get Mark a large hot chocolate (even though he slept through the car stopping there, and Minhyuk leaving to go and get it).

When they pull up in front of their family home, Hyunwoo gently shakes Mark awake, before handing him his hot chocolate, and grabbing his suitcase from the trunk of Minhyuk’s car, helping Minhyuk’s mother with hers as well, despite her insisting that she could get it just fine herself.

 

When they’re all settled at home, and Mark crawls his way onto Minhyuk’s double bed, removing his hearing aids and falling asleep, burrito-ed in his older brother’s sheets, Minhyuk doesn’t mention it in the morning, and he makes no attempt to get Mark to go to his own bed, he just shifts Mark into the center of the bed, so that Hyunwoo and Minhyuk can lay down either side of him. Mark doesn’t mention in the morning, how much he missed being hugged by his older brother, he just snuggles further into his brother’s chest, making sure to lock in the memory of returning home after such a long time of distance.

Minhyuk finds it nice and convenient, later in the morning, that Mark left his hearing aids sitting on Minhyuk’s side table, because he doesn’t wake up to Hyunwoo and Minhyuk talking about how funny it was that Minhyuk learnt the wrong sign language, but met so many amazing friends along the way. The older two settle back into a comfortable silence, sitting on their phones, with Mark balled up between the two, when Donghyuck makes his appearance at the house, let in by Mark’s Mum, he barrels down the hallway to Mark’s room, confused when he doesn’t find his boyfriend in his bed, before tentatively coming back up the hall to poke his head into Minhyuk’s room, who throws up a quick peace sign

 

_ “He’s out cold, crashed as soon as we got home yesterday”  _ Minhyuk laughs, taking a quick photo of the sleeping boy  _ “His hearing aids are on the side table, you can wake him up if you want to” _ Donghyuck laughs softly, taking a quick photo of his own, before grabbing Mark’s hearing aids, and poking the sleeping boy on the shoulder until he shifts with a groan.

 

When Mark opens his eyes, he smiles wide, seeing Donghyuck hold out his hearing aids for him with a smile. Hyunwoo reaches out a hand and ruffles Mark’s hair, making the younger give a little disgruntled noise, before he reaches out and grabs his hearing aids from his boyfriend, popping them in and turning them on. He smiles at the sound of Donghyuck’s soft laughter that reaches his ears, stretching, before dramatically reaching forwards and pulling Donghyuck onto the bed, over the legs of Minhyuk, who protests loudly at being crushed.

 

_ “Lee Donghyuck get off me” _ Minhyuk signs, groaning under the weight of the younger man across his legs  _ “You’re a whole 19 year old, you are crushing me”  _ Donghyuck grins at Minhyuk, before facing the other way so that he can’t see Minhyuk’s hands when he signs.

 

“Yah, don’t do that, Donghyuck, you’re going to break my legs” Hyunwoo laughs at Minhyuk’s misfortune, but after a second, he slides out from under the covers, and makes his way to lift up Donghyuck, depositing him where Hyunwoo had been laying a second ago, and then retrieving Minhyuk from his spot on the bed, carrying him bridal style into the kitchen.

 

“Yah, I can’t believe I’m being kicked out of my own room by a bunch of teenagers” Minhyuk yells dramatically back down the hall once Hyunwoo releases him, to his full pyjama glory, standing in the kitchen. He gives up being dramatic, after a few seconds, and settles for making him and Hyunwoo some coffee and breakfast.

 

Minhyuk smiles, hearing his Mark and Donghyuck laughing together in his bedroom, at a joke that was probably exchanged in sign, opting for the easiest method of communication, where Mark didn’t have to struggle to decipher words from a plethora of possibilities, with just the amplification of his hearing aid as any help. He loved having his whole family back home, it really meant the world to have everyone together, and even more that he had found so many new friends because of Mark, even though it was indirectly. Hyunwoo sneaks up behind Minhyuk while he’s spreading peanut butter on his toast, zoning out a little until he feels the strong arms sneak around his middle.

 

“What are you thinking about? Besides food” Hyunwoo asks, his voice still kind of husky because of the early morning.

 

“I’m just glad to have Mark home” Hyunwoo hums, nodding in agreement

 

“Even though he left his hearing in Canada?” Hyunwoo mutters, not processing his words until they leave his mouth, Minhyuk sputters out a loud laugh, turning around to hit his boyfriend in the arm, playfully.

 

“Yah! He was going to lose it anyway! And he’s more fun now, have you seen how happy he is that I was signing with him? He wouldn’t be that impressed if I was speaking English with him!”

Minhyuk laughs, shaking his head at Hyunwoo’s half-joke

 

“I’d be impressed if you spoke English with him” Hyunwoo says, his voice genuine, in the quiet compliment

 

“What about when I’m signing with him?”

 

“I’ve seen what you started out like, it’s not impressive anymore” 

 

“Yah! I tried really hard!”

 

_ “I know, I was kidding”  _  Hyunwoo signs, a cheeky grin on his bear-like face, a light laugh leaving his mouth  _ “I love it when you sign, you’re so expressive” _ Hyunwoo’s eyes close with his eye smile, before he sneaks past his boyfriend to grab his respective cup of coffee and toast from the counter

“Thank you for breakfast Minhyuk, now let’s sit and eat”

  
  


Bonus chat for your soul

 

**[ seven idiots ]**

 

**From: MinMin**

**[1 image attached]**

**[Image description: Mark is asleep, his black curls are sticking up on the left side of his head, his face is squashed into the blankets, making it look like his eyebrows are raised and questioning, there is a hint of drool on the side of his face, and it is clear he is deep in sleep]**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**That’s Mark’s new contact photo in my phone**

**I’m glad he’s home safe**

 

**From: Tol Grande**

**He didn’t even make it to his own bed?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**Lol no**

**He passed out on my bed almost as soon as we got home**

**Hyunwoo didn’t want to move him so we let him sleep there**

 

**From: The Dad**

**He’s just too cute!**

**And I missed him!**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**Hyunwoo is valid**

**I would also let him sleep on my bed if he fell asleep there**

**Even tho I could probably pick him up and take him to his own bed with no issues**

 

**From: The Mum**

**We all know that Mark could have whatever he wanted**

 

**From: Angery Baby**

**Why does Mark get this privilege for being the baby**

**Last time I fell asleep on anyone’s bed I got booted off**

 

**From: Thicc Bitch 1**

**In My Defense**

**You slept on my bed knowing full well that I kick in my sleep**

 

**From: MinMin**

**You brought that upon yourself Changkyun**

**Everyone knows that Hoseok kicks in his sleep**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Can I come over and see Mark now?**

 

**From: MinMin**

**I think you might have to fist fight Hyuck for his attention**

**But if you wanna come over, you can come in 20 or later**

**Woo and I are just watching TV in the lounge room**

 

**From: Honey Bear**

**Be prepared**

**I’m driving Hyungwon over too**

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> You can come and scream at me on Twitter if this made you feel the ~Emotions~  
> I'm @renjunsrey on there too!
> 
> Have a lovely week!


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